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Article in the Columbus, Ohio Dispatch on Sunday, January 30, 2005

Reserve unit seeks answers to comrade's death in Iraq
Victim was driving truck that crashed during night mission

Members of an Army Reserve unit based in Zanesville want Congress to review a vehicle crash that killed a colleague this summer in Iraq.
They question whether military commanders contributed to the death of Staff Sgt. Donald Davis by ordering him to drive a 7,500-gallon fuel tanker in "blackout" conditions - in the dark without headlights or night-vision goggles. Davis, 42, of Saginaw, Mich., died Aug. 24 when the truck, which was part of a supply convoy, tumbled down an embankment next to a dirt bypass route near Fallujah.
On that point, members of Ohio's 660th Transportation Company and military officials agreed. At issue is what caused the truck to leave the roadway.
"This matter was labeled by the chain of command as an accident, unavoidable," members of the 660th wrote in a letter sent last month to seven congressmen, including five from Ohio.
"As some issues in the military are easy to sweep under the rug, it would seem in this matter that it would take complete irresponsibility on the part of the chain of command to say that this was unavoidable."
The letter, obtained by WBNSTV (Channel 10), bears the signatures of 21 members of the 660th, which has suffered four deaths and amassed more than 30 Purple Hearts since arriving in Iraq in February.
The reservists wrote that many other members of the unit agreed with their assessment, but declined to add their names for fear of "derogatory treatment from the immediate chain of command."
Those who did sign wrote that they had given a great deal of thought to the circumstances surrounding Davis' death and that they felt morally bound to share the details.
"Prior to the 'accident' one of the platoon members called over the radio and said they could not see where they were going," they wrote. "The response by the leadership on the radio was 'suck it up, and drive on.' "
Army officials said Davis' death wasn't attributable to a decision to run the convoy without headlights or to a supposed lack of adequate night-vision equipment.
"The investigation into the accident that killed Davis ruled that the soldier was operating his vehicle beyond his capability and that dust and poor road conditions were contributing factors," Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, an Army spokesman in Baghdad, told WBNS-TV.
Night-vision goggles wouldn't have made any difference, he said, because they "can't see through heavy dust."
One congressman who received the reservists' letter, U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Lisbon, counts some members of the 660th among his constituents.
"God help us if we allow ourselves to become so numb to what's happening over there that we are willing to tolerate it," he said.
For more than a year, Strickland has been criticizing the Pentagon for what he sees as its failure to supply U.S. forces in Iraq with adequate equipment, especially body and vehicle armor. He has sent two letters to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
"Here are family members complaining, soldiers complaining, and yet the response has been anemic on the part of our civilian leadership," he said.
Both Strickland and U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Columbus, another recipient of the reservists' letter, said their offices were looking into Davis' death.
His widow, Linda Davis, said she's waiting for answers, which haven't been forthcoming from military officials.
"Why haven't they come to us yet?" she said. "It makes me feel like, 'What are they covering? What are they trying to hide?' "
Mrs. Davis said that after arriving in Iraq, her husband complained to her numerous times about inadequate equipment and leadership.
"I can't rest until I know what happened to him. I can't do it," she said.